I started looking into scrum and related agile approaches a few months ago when a good friend who is a retired program and project manager said, “Earl, I think you’d make a great scrum master!”

I took it from there, attending meetups actively and frequently, reading up, taking a two-day course for the Certified Scrum Master and passing the exam to get the cert (CSM), taking a six-week course on agility that has an outstanding list of book readings in its syllabus[1], etc. etc.

However, “scrum is easy to understand, difficult to master”.

That’s because the scrum framework is lightweight and described in only about a dozen pages in the official guide. The easy part is learning about scum in theory. An entirely different matter is putting it into practice in a particular context. That’s the hard part, working with people, teams, and organizations. They all have their own agenda, history, mindset, and existing ways of working. It’s often a difficult and demanding learning process. They very often have misunderstandings of what it means to practice agility.

I have conversations with people who have worked in scrum and in agile approaches for a decade and longer. They are operating at a high level of understanding that comes with experience. Me, I’m aspiring to where they are. But I am growing and learning and really enjoying this new path that I’ve stepped onto and following. It’s a great community – and the more I engage with it, the more I’m convinced I’ve got excellent aptitude for this field.

Another friend said he is impressed by what I’ve achieved in a relatively short time. But I have the big advantage of having worked as a software developer and already having familiarity with some agile practices, with related programming techniques, and with the problems that software projects face.

As I make this pivot I meet lots of people who are making big career transitions, or worked as a stay-at-home parent and have been out of the workforce, or have been involuntarily unemployed for a long time. Their struggles are what’s really impressive.

 
[1] Three of the books have been incredibly enlightening. I am so glad I’ve read them.

The Principles of Product Development Flow, by Donald Reinertsen,
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Daniel Pink,
The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization, by Peter Senge